


in the aftermath it is quiet (as we wait for everything to begin again)

by Dontfloatthe100



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Dad!Steve, F/M, Post-Canon, Steve voice "another one"
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-05
Updated: 2017-11-05
Packaged: 2019-01-29 23:10:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12641211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dontfloatthe100/pseuds/Dontfloatthe100
Summary: "So," Steve says as he scrapes the last of the eggs off his plate, "you must be Eleven."El nods as she finishes up her own."Hmm. I thought you would be taller."Or, our favorite dad and our favorite daughter finally get a proper introduction.





	in the aftermath it is quiet (as we wait for everything to begin again)

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah Steve has no idea who Eleven is. That's a great tragedy that i am attempting to fix
> 
> Best,  
> Em

Eleven wakes up with the light filtering in through the window of Will's room.   
  
She doesn't know where she is for a moment. She can't find her bearings. Panic begins to creep up, constricting her throat. That is, until she hears the sound of four other people breathing softly.   
  
She turns to her left. Mike is lying next to her on Will's bed, on top of the covers. He looked so peaceful, so unburdened. All of the nights she watched him speak on the Supercom, all of the nights spent behind one way glass, he had never looked so calm. He was still fast asleep, and El didn't want to wake him.   
  
She sits up quietly, trying not to rattle the bedframe too much. She swings her legs over the side of the bed, pulling back her covers. She had shed her large overcoat the night before, but she still wore her black shirt and jeans, although the cuffs had unfolded. She looks around the room. Max and Lucas are sleeping near each other, their hands brushing in their sleep. El was sure that Max and Mike had something, that Mike had forgotten her and moved on. Now, she  isn't so sure, but she promises herself to come back to it later. Try to clear the air, so to speak.   
  
Dustin is sleeping on the other side, curled up in a fetal position. In the chair to his right, a blanket is strewn haphazardly, as if someone had slept there and woken up. El gets up and walks carefully around her friends towards the door into the hallway. She immediately smells something good, not Eggos good, but good all the same.   
  
El follows the smell into the kitchen. There, clad in a t-shirt and jeans with a tea-towel draped over his shoulder, is Steve Harrington. He is standing by the stove, cooking something in a pan. El looks at him curiously for a moment, then walks over to the fridge. She places a hand on the handle and a voice from behind her speaks up.  
  
"Hey, uh, I wouldn't do that if I were you. Dustin wanted to preserve one of those demodogs, and well, there was no other place to put it," Steve says, placing his pan down on the stovetop.   
  
"Preserve?" El asks, walking over to sit at the table.   
  
"Uh, it means to save something for later. To keep it fresh," Steve says.   
  
El nods and looks over at the stovetop. The eggs are getting too hot, she knows they will start to burn soon. Instead of telling Steve, she stares at the pan hard, making it levitate towards the countertop and setting it down gently. Steve watches in awe, and then goes to turn off the stove. He gets two plates from the cabinet to his right, piles the eggs on, and sets them in front of El and himself. He picks out some forks from the drawer and places them down as well. As soon as he sat down, he begins to dig in. El looks at the eggs in disgust.   
  
Steve looks up from his plate to notice the look on her face. "Oh, these didn't come from the fridge. I just went and got these from Melvald's."  
  
El nods and digs into her food, savoring the taste as she does with everything. Years and years at the lab made her appreciate variety.   
  
"So," Steve says as he scrapes the last of the eggs off his plate, "you must be Eleven."  
  
El nods as she finishes up her own.   
  
"Hmm. I thought you would be taller."  
  
Eleven glares at him, and he has the decency to look intimidated.   
  
"Sorry, sorry. Don't get me wrong, what you did last night was pretty badass."  
  
Eleven knows what bad is, the men at the lab were bad, Papa was bad. She doesn't know what ass means, but how could anything with bad be a good thing.   
  
Steve seems to notice her confusion. "Badass means like super cool and tough."  
  
Eleven's mind immediately jumps to her sister. She wonders where Kali and the rest of the gang are. She hopes she's okay. She hopes she will see her again soon.   
  
She doesn't want to dwell on it. Her sister is another path she couldn't take. Instead she looks at Steve, and remembers his story from the night before. How he had protected her friends from the demodogs, how he had saved Lucas from Billy, how he had helped Mike to lure the demodogs away from the lab.   
  
"Thank you," she says. 

Steve's eyebrows knit together in confusion. "For what?"  
  
"For protecting them. For protecting Mike."   
  
Steve smiles softly at her. "No problem."  
  
"What about me?" Mike asks, walking into the room. He sits next to El, placing his hand on her's and smiling at her.   
  
"I thanked Steve for protecting you, and Dustin and Lucas," El says, sticking to her honesty policy.  
  
Mike chokes on air. Steve watches Mike, and laughs as a confused look crosses Eleven's face.  
  
"Wow, you really don't mince your words, do you?" Steve says.   
  
"Friends don't lie," Eleven says simply, squeezing Mike's hand.  
  
"Let me guess, this one taught you that?" Steve asks.  
  
El nods, smiling slightly. It is quiet for a few moments, until Steve speaks up.  
  
"Now, I know a little bit of the story, but I'm still fuzzy on the details. How did you guys meet again?" Steve asks, leaning closer to the two teens.   
  
"It's a long story," Mike answers.   
  
"We have time."  
  
And El knows he's right. For once in her life she has all the time in the world. Time enough to spend with her friends, with Mike. Time enough to be a normal teenager. Time enough to go to school and the arcade and the snow ball. Time enough for anything and everything she wants to do.   
  
But for now, she waits, and listens to Mike telling their story in the Byers' kitchen. Soon everyone will wake up and things will have to go back to normal. And Eleven knows she'll be ready when it does.


End file.
